This invention relates to wrenches for threading and unthreading pipes and more particularly to a specialized wrench adapted for working on pipes in locations which are difficult to reach.
Almost any homeowner who has attempted to do any plumbing around his house is aware that some installations are located and arranged such that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to attach a conventional pipe wrench to the pipe which it is desired to turn without costly removal of structure or fixtures. If one succeeds in getting access to the pipe, the next obstacle is that there is inadequate room to move the wrench handle and if it can be turned at all, the wrench must be reset after turning the pipe every few degrees. Professional plumbers often find a need to remove and replace pipes which are carried in walls where access is extremely difficult even when access panels or wall panels are removed. A typical example of a problem installation is shown in FIG. 1, discussed below, where pipes supplying bathtubs in adjoining rooms are located in the wall between them. Even when a pipe is accessible, sometimes the pipes are so old and rusted that they collapse when a standard pipe wrench is attached to them and turned at a substantial distance from the joint which it is desired to disassemble. Mother problem installation is often presented by the drain pipe under a sink, which is often badly rusted and difficult to reach.
Thus there is a need for a wrench which can be operated or turned at a location somewhat removed from the particular pipe joint which it is desired to disassemble or assemble and which will apply force adjacent to or near the remotely located joint.